Morten Frost resigns

The writing was on the wall and it has happened sooner than expected as Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and its Technical Director Morten Frost agreed to part ways.

The Dane, who has a contract with the BAM which runs through 2021, submitted his resignation letter sometime last week before the coaching and training (C&T) committee’s meeting today (Monday).

BAM president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria, confirmed Frost’s resignation after chairing the C&T meeting, saying “it was accepted amicably” and thanked the Dane for his services.

Malaysia did not achieve the desired results in two major tournaments this year – the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland and the Sea Games held in Kuala Lumpur. Both meets were held last month.

At the world meet former world No 1 Datuk Wira Lee Chong Wei was a first round casualty while Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong went out in the second round after drawing a bye in the first round.

At the Sea Games, national number two Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, was expected to win the gold but the 26-year-old fell in the quarter-finals to Vietnam veteran Nguyen Tien Minh,

The only “high” was in the women’s singles which was an all-Malaysian affair with former junior world champion Goh Jin Wei beat compatriot Soniia Cheah for the gold medal and the silver in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles. Malaysia also won the silver in, both, the men’s and women’s team event.

The Dane’s resignation did not come as a surprise although he has a contract with BAM 2021 which was signed in 2015. Frost was expected to play a role in Malaysia’s bid to win gold medals at the Rio Olympics last year and also the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.